by K. Marie
For whatever reason, there was something about Camry; something that called to me on a different level. When she caught my eye at the nightclub that night, it was because she’d been attractive, and because I was a man who couldn’t help giving a quick look of appreciation. Of course, Camry was beautiful, and had a body that could fuel any man’s sexual fantasies. But, I’d encountered many such women before, and their lasting impressions had lasted all of five seconds. However, the beautiful woman in the tight green dress, had my eyes lingering longer than they should.
When she threw her head back in laughter, at something the woman next to her had been saying, I was inexplicably captivated.
I watched as she spoke animatedly, her genuine cheer and smile lighting up her face and radiating outward, drawing me in like a beacon. I was drawn enough for me to do an about-face and head back into the crowded part of the club that I’d just left. Viktor gave me a questioning look that I ignored, as I headed over to the bar and ordered a scotch; something I never did.
“It appears you’ve seen something you’d like to test-drive,” Viktor commented, standing next to me.
I continued ignoring him as I sipped my scotch, and watched Camry, like a predator. Except, at that moment, I hadn’t decided that she would be my prey. No, I stood there watching her…and trying to figure out why in the hell I’d been watching her. I didn’t know what possessed me to do it. It was as if I’d gotten wind of her scent and was in for the hunt.
That was something I rarely did. Women typically hunted me; for they were greater hunters of man than given credit for.
I continued watching Camry, as she’d interacted with those around her, and it wasn’t long before I realized I wasn’t the only predator watching her. She’d graciously fended off the more aggressive ones, looking like an innocent babe in the woods of hunters. It seemed Dorothy hadn’t realized she’d left Kansas. That’s when I finally figured it out, my draw to her, the reason that I’d been intrigued.
Camry reminded me of my wife, my dead wife.
It was more than just a physical resemblance. It was that light in her eyes when she smiled, the outwardly innocence that seemed to radiate from within. I recognized it because I’d seen it before, only, not in a very long time. Call me jaded, but Camry seemed unlike the women I was used to. Women who were beautiful and vain, and who used that to their advantage in a practiced game. Those women always had an agenda, and sought men like me to secure their worlds of self-involved pursuits.
I always liked that type of woman. We both had our own agendas and understood how the game was played. I got what I wanted from them, and they got what they wanted from me, with no strings attached. The women who got involved with me always knew from the very beginning, that there would be no future. They understood that I would give them what they wanted until I no longer wanted them.
But, watching Camry that night, I realized I’d been drawn to her because of her seemingly complete absence of affectation and unawareness. The woman seemed oblivious to the fact that she was captivating. She smiled and laughed with abandon, emanating a carefree joy that I envied. She didn’t give coy, practiced looks to the men who approached, but instead smiled politely as she rebuffed them. Camry looked as if she couldn’t figure out why they’d been pestering her.
I smiled at the memory, knowing all of those men wanted exactly what I had. To fuck her. But, I knew instinctively that Camry was an innocent; that she’d be naïve to the nature of men like me, that she would be incapable of playing my game.
So, as I watched her sway her sexy body to the beat of the music on her way to the dance floor, I decided she was a problem I didn’t need.
I had a strict policy of never picking up women in the nightclub, and I wasn’t about to break that policy, especially for naïve little Dorothy.
Tossing back the remainder of my scotch—I moved to leave; but hesitated, when my attention was drawn to the asshole who’d been a part of her group. The one who had been hounding her the hardest. I watched as he trailed behind her, then started to dance with Camry while she had her back turned. For reasons I couldn’t name, I found myself moving in that direction.
I knew the kind of dirt-bag men like him were, the kind who believed no to mean yes.
I circled around the dance floor until I had a clearer view; leaning against the wall adjacent to where the D.J. was stationed. I looked on as Camry darted a glance over her shoulder, spotting the asshole, her quick look of surprise transforming into one of annoyance. She took a couple of steps forward; attempting to distance herself. But, shit-head paid that no heed as he followed her, intent on getting her to engage. When he put his hands on her—grabbing her around the waist and pushing his face in the crook of her neck, my fists balled involuntarily.
Camry turned in my direction then; she looked right at me and saw me watching her. I experienced a sensation that was foreign to me, something that made me feel as if I’d taken a punch to the gut.
I told myself to stay put, not to react as my instinct dictated. However, I abandoned that thought a second later, when I saw the look of distress on Camry’s face; as she struggled to fend the asshole off. I knew I could have called security over, but I reacted instead, moving onto the dance floor and pulling the idiot off of her.
“If you put your fucking hands on her, or even look at her again, I will slit your fucking throat. Do I make myself clear?” I said close to the asshole’s ear.
I’d twisted the collar of his shirt to the point where I knew it was cutting off his air—could feel him struggling to get loose, to breathe air into his lungs. I knew that he wouldn’t be able to answer, but that was okay, because I didn’t require one.
“Good,” I answered for him, before pushing the prick away from me.
I wanted to beat the shit out of him, but refrained, I couldn’t afford to let something like that happen on my own property. But when the idiot turned around to confront me, I briefly had second thoughts.
“Just give me a reason,” I warned, actually wishing that he would. I calculated it wouldn’t take much; that he would go down fast, I knew the type.
I almost wanted to laugh at the look of fear in his eyes, the moment he realized my threat hadn’t been an idle one. He saw it in my eyes; cowards always recognized real danger. The fucking coward quickly turned-tail and ran off the dance floor; leaving me standing in front of Camry, who stood looking at me with widened eyes.
“Um, thank you for that,” she stammered nervously.
I looked at her then, a more up-close look than I had before, and was struck by how beautiful she was; how her hazel eyes stared back at me gratefully. Again, I told myself to walk away. I knew those innocent doe-eyes spelled nothing but trouble. So, I simply nodded and forced myself to leave.
But alas, I had a problem listening to myself when I caught sight of Camry again; on my way out of the club for the second time that night.
I had stopped to let security know to keep an eye out for dip-shit, and to toss his ass out if he even breathed wrong. A few seconds sooner, and I would have missed her. Everything that happened after that moment would have been in non-existence.
I asked myself if I believed in fate; that things happened for a reason, and six months ago, I would have said no.
But now? Now I would have to say yes, because everything I did that night defied logic. Just the odds of me being there had been slim to none.
I left operations of the club to management—my only interest was in the monthly financial reports that told me the club remained steadily profitable. But since the club contracted security through the security firm, it was actually Viktor who had business that night with one of his men. I’d merely tagged along for kicks, because it beat going home to be alone with my thoughts.
That turned out to be one of the best damn decisions I’ve ever made.
I knew Camry would be no match for my single-minded seductive pursuit; that she operated from a different playbook than my own. But, the
fact that I wanted her was undeniable.
But, did I want to test-drive Camry that night as Viktor so crudely stated? No, turned out, I wanted to ride her like I was in my Lamborghini on a road trip. A test-drive didn’t suffice.
I had every intention of fucking her that night on my boat and getting it out of my system, then never seeing her again. But, it just so happened that night hadn’t been enough. Nor the night after that, or the night after that. I’d changed the rules of my own playbook and found myself in a predicament I hadn’t been in before.
I’ll admit, I loved nothing more than the feel of her tight pussy wrapped around my cock, being inside of her was like experiencing nirvana. But it was more than that. I wanted more than that. I wanted more of her time, more of her energy, and more of her attention. Being in Camry’s presence made me realize her light was the perfect balm to my dark. I was happy—I mean genuinely happy, and that was something I hadn’t been in a very long time.
But, I felt it those four days that Camry and I spent together.
I looked over my shoulder at the sound of the glass door opening behind me, to see the woman who occupied a lot of my thoughts stepping onto the balcony.
“Hey sweetie, I started to think that maybe you’d jumped off,” she said with a teasing smile, walking towards me.
“I came close a couple of times, then decided against it. I didn’t want my wife to be angry with me,” I jested.
“Are you okay?” she asked in a soft voice, a look of concern in her eyes.
I pulled her into my arms, giving her question serious consideration. “As long as I’ve got you, I’m doing just fine,” I told her, meaning every word.
As for the rest, the reason that brought us here? That was something else entirely.
“You say the sweetest things sometimes, husband,” she returned, smile beaming as she looked up at me. “You didn’t eat, aren’t you hungry?” she asked.
I gave her a speculative look. “Are you offering?” I countered, knowing how she’d react.
She giggled, of course. “Oh my God, do you ever not think about sex?” Camry asked, eyes shining with mirth.
“It’s said us men think about sex twenty-three hours out of twenty-four, so I figured I probably use that one hour up while I’m asleep,” I said with a grin.
“Besides, I didn’t eat because no self-respecting man should ever eat pizza with pineapples on it, calls his masculinity into question,” I told her.
My wife wrapped her arms around my neck, sliding her fingers through the back of my hair as she brought her mouth to meet mine. She kissed me, before slowly gliding her tongue across my bottom lip.
“I assure you, your masculinity could never be called into question,” she whispered seductively.
Witch.
I groaned as I crushed my mouth back to hers; the woman knew how to get to me.
Did I seriously think she would be no match for my seductive games? I was wrong.
“Don’t tempt me, Camry. If fucking you on this balcony right now was an option, I would. As it is, I’ve got to wait out here until I lose my erection before going back inside. I’ll get my revenge later,” I told her, backing off.
Her eyes alighted with mischief as she rubbed her palm across my dick. “You promise?” she asked.
Forty-Three
C A M R Y
“Since we’re under house-arrest together, we might as well make-out,” I heard Marie say to Viktor, clearly screwing with him.
I’d just walked out of the main room of the suite; having said good night to them—and was feeling completely exhausted as I entered the bedroom. I found Garland seated at the small desk, engrossed in whatever was on the screen of his laptop. He was lucky to have left the electronic in his car overnight.
“Autumn get to sleep okay?” he asked.
“Yes, she fell asleep halfway through the book, it’s been a long day for all of us,” I answered.
Walking over to the shopping bags that had been delivered from the hotel boutique, I started pulling out items in search of pajamas. I pulled out a short ivory colored garment that I wouldn’t quite describe as a nightgown, as there wasn’t enough material to actually constitute a gown. Holding up the frilly, sexy lingerie, I eyed it dubiously.
“That looks promising,” Garland said from behind me.
“The only thing promising about this, is that it’s not likely to fit,” I said dryly.
Guess I’ll be sleeping in his t-shirt.
Garland turned back to his computer with a grin, while I gathered a few items and went into the bathroom to take a shower.
I closed my eyes as I stood underneath the stream of the powerful shower head, letting the heat penetrate my tired body. I was worried; somebody had actually followed us today. This person—or persons, could have actually meant us harm. It’s the not knowing that stressed me out the most. I wasn’t really afraid, it was mostly creepy than anything else. But, I did worry about something happening to those I love.
With my nerves already on edge, my eyes sprang open at the sound behind me; my heart skipping a beat in my chest. But, I closed them in relief a second later, when I saw Garland entering the shower.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, naked body touching mine as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m just tired, my nerves are a bit jittery, that’s all,” I told him, relaxing into his embrace.
Garland kissed my temple as his large hands came up to cradle my stomach, before letting out a sigh that sounded as weary as I felt. “I’m sorry, Camry. I know today was stressful for you, and I regret that more than you know,” he said, voice tired and strained.
Placing my hands over his, I craned my neck to look up at him. “It was stressful for you as well. This wasn’t your fault, I could never blame you for what happened today,” I told him.
“Keeping my family safe is my job, my top priority, and what happened today was unacceptable,” he maintained, sounding pissed at himself.
I turned in his arms to face him, to look him in the eye. “Hey, I hate to break it to you, but you can’t control everything,” I told him, palming his face in my hands. Garland had a tough time with anything he couldn’t control.
“You did keep us safe, you take every precaution to keep us safe. If you kept us any safer we would be prisoners, and that’s no way to live. You have the right to live your life and to be happy; you can’t be accountable for every creep out there,” I argued, trying to get through to him.
I knew today’s incident was eating away at him; that he blamed himself for what happened, and I didn’t know that I could convince him otherwise. But, it all went back to what happened before, the loss of his family. He won’t talk about it, and the couple of times I did ask, he’d simply shut down. So, I’ve avoided all mention of it. However, I knew that it was what drove his security paranoia, his perceived sense of failure. No matter how exaggerated it might seem to me, for him, it was very real.
Garland shut his eyes and pulled me closer—as close as he could with my growing belly. “It won’t happen again, Camry, I promise,” he vowed, regardless to everything I’d just said to him.
I just sighed on the inside. “Of that, I have no doubt,” I conceded, standing on my toes to kiss him.
I may never be able to convince Garland his family wasn’t constantly in mortal danger, but I damn sure wouldn’t stop trying. Garland is fierce about taking care of his family, about keeping us safe, but it’s my job to take care of him, to ensure he’s okay.
After our shower, Garland and I fell into bed and lost ourselves in each other, the stress of the day momentarily forgotten.
G A R L A N D
“Look familiar?” Drakos asked.
I sat at the desk in my office the next day, looking at the video footage that he’d just brought up on the computer screen. A mix of disbelief and rage churned inside my brain.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
“With the tinted win
dows, we weren’t able to catch anything on the street cams, but he screwed-up. That lot has cameras, as well as that building across the street,” Drakos said, pointing to the building on the screen.
The images had to be enhanced to get a clearer view, but there was no mistaking the asshole whose image had been zoomed in on. It wasn’t a crystal-clear image, but even with the baseball cap on, he was still recognizable.
“Son of a bitch…” I muttered, not believing what I was seeing. “How in the fuck did this happen, Drakos, how in the hell was he able to track us?” I asked, feeling my jaw clench as I barely held onto my temper.
“I’ve gone over everything with a fine-tooth comb; all of the security safeguards are still in place. There’s no way he could have hacked his way past any of those; or have uncovered the ghosts that were put into place. But, I’ve got a fairly good idea of how he did it, and it wasn’t all that sophisticated,” he said in answer.
I looked at him impatiently, silently prompting him to get on with it. Was he pausing for fucking dramatic effect?
Drakos clicked on the computer mouse, and another image appeared. “Right here,” he said, pointing to the footage that popped-up on the screen.
It was an image of the front of my office building, a view of the street in front of it, to be exact. I saw the Range Rover parked at the curb, and a minute later, I see myself exiting the building. I walked over to the vehicle and got in on the passenger side.
“Keep watching,” Drakos said.
The Range Rover pulled off, and about five seconds later, I saw another car passing the building.
“Right there,” he pointed at the vehicle, pausing the image. “I didn’t catch it at first; but after rewinding it several times, I realized that car hadn’t just been driving by, but had pulled away from the curb here,” he said, pointing to a spot that was almost out of the camera’s view. He rewound it, then played it again.
I re-watched the same footage, and this time, I see that he’s right. The car pulled away from the curb just seconds after we pulled off.
